Nick Momrik

No Place to Rest

I didn’t feel like doing a Year of the Engine workout earlier in the day and don’t feel guilty since I plan to do two each of the next two days. Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

15 cal Assault Bike
2 Rounds
- 5 PVC Pass throughs
- 5 Goblet Squats (44#)
- 5 Elbow Punches
Power Cleans
- 5×45#
- 5×95
- 3×135
- 2×165

Conditioning

2 Cycles

1,000m Row
15 Rounds
- 5 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
- 3 Burpees
- 1 Power Clean (185#)

I rowed a 1:50/500m pace for the first 1k and a 2:00 pace for the second 1k. Once you get in to the 15 rounds there is no place to rest because the movements are so different and it’s constant movement. Burpees were by far the worst and again, really slow compared to what I’d usually do. I don’t seem to have full lung capacity from whatever this cough is. The clean was no issue, I took a second for a full breath before grabbing the bar each time. I finished in 30:48.

With 30 rounds to keep track of I wore my Garmin watch and used the lap counter.

Cycle 1		Cycle 2
Split	Cumulative	Split	Cumulative
3:56 (row + transition)	3:56	4:45 (2 transitions + row)	19:38
0:39	4:35	0:41	20:19
0:40	5:15	0:44	21:03
0:41	5:55	0:44	21:46
0:44	6:39	0:43	22:29
0:41	7:20	0:44	23:13
0:42	8:02	0:46	23:59
0:43	8:45	0:46	24:45
0:42	9:28	0:47	25:32
0:45	10:13	0:48	26:20
0:45	10:58	0:49	27:09
0:45	11:43	0:49	27:58
0:49	12:32	0:45	28:43
0:49	13:21	0:46	29:29
0:48	14:09	0:42	30:11
0:45	14:53	0:37	30:48

The second row was slower, but there is also the extra transition of getting to the rower. With the row itself only taking an extra 20 seconds, I wasted some time there in the transitions. 14:53 for cycle 1 and 15:55 for cycle 2 isn’t too bad really, and even better when comparing 10:58 for the first 15 rounds and 11:11 for the second 15 rounds. There’s always some kind of data to keep out over! My heart rate quickly got up over 140 and stayed pretty much 142-155 with a few short parts up around 160-165. Why can’t I do that when I run?

It’s been a long time since I’ve done a long one like there where I basically don’t stop the entire time.

Late Fitness

Walked 18 holes on the golf course today, which was 6 miles according to my app. I still have the cough, but my body is feeling good, with my energy back. Since I haven’t done much in the last week, I headed out to the garage a little before 8pm.

Year of the Engine – Polarized

39:00 Airdyne

** Endurance with 7s sprint @ 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36

Much lower totals than doing this last week, getting 1,066 calories and 22.75 km today. My heart rate was in the correct zones though, which is the key.

Getting Better

I walked 18 holes yesterday, but still not feeling like myself. I’ve had this cough for a week now. My energy does seem to be getting better each day though. My biceps and lats are pretty sore from the bar muscle-ups on Sunday.

Out in the garage in the early afternoon. Haven’t done an engine workout since the 7th with this sickness. Warmed up with a 3:00 row for 706 meters.

Year of the Engine – Interval

8 Rounds

1:00 Row
3:00 Rest

Over two weeks ago for 10x 1:00/2:00 I held a 1:34.9/500m pace, so I knew I could go faster with this being rest and fewer rounds. My goal was 1:32-1:33/500m.

Really surprised myself with this effort actually because I’m not 100%. Got 325-325-324-324-324-324-325-325 meters.

Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

3:00 Assault Bike (30 cals)
PVC Passes
Burgener Warm-up

Weightlifting

High Hang Power Snatch + Hang Power Snatch + Power Snatch

2×75#
2×95
2×115
2×135

Paused in both hang positions. Wasn’t going to push it today. Worked up a good sweat still though.

Conditioning

I went over to the dumbbell rack and did some single arm push jerks to warm-up so I wouldn’t have to mess around with a barbell since mine was already set from snatches.

Single Arm DB Push Jerks

5/5 @ 30#
3/3 @ 40#
3/3 @ 50#

21-15-9

Push Jerks (135#)
Burpees Over The Bar
Toes-To-Bar

I wasn’t sure how the push jerks would feel, so I went in with a plan, knowing I might have to back off. Ended up sticking with the plan and did 9-7-5, 9-6, and 9. After the first round of jerks, I was already having a hard time breathing with this sickness. So I had some epically slow ass fucking burpees, even stepping back in to most of them! I think the 21 took me around 2 minutes!! I was hoping I could use the same sets on T2B but decided against that as soon as I got done with those first burpees. I just tried to be quicker between sets. Did 6-5-5-5, 5-5-5, 5-4. Finished in 9:41. Would be a good one to try again when I’m feeling like myself.

Still a Little Sick?

On Thursday my abs were still a little sore from the previous Sunday or it might have been new DOMS from the 100 T2B on Tuesday. I walked 18 holes on the golf course. My hips felt tight after the round, which could have been from various movements in the Wednesday workout. I started feeling weak and rundown later in the evening and went to bed early. On Friday I felt shitty and took most of the day off from work, so obviously no workouts. Yesterday I seemed to be feeling better, but still a little off. I gave my body another rest day and was in bed at 10pm for the third day in a row. Went to open gym at 10am today, though wasn’t sure how I was feeling yet.

No B.S. Bench Press

10×45#
10×95
5×135
5×165
5×185
5×205
4x5x225
MAX @ 225 (7)

This starts the second cycle of the program, using the week 4 weight as the new base. Crazy that every set was exactly the same as almost exactly 2 years ago to the day on August 12, 2017. Even the max reps set of 7 was the same, which is only 1 rep shy of my best with that weight! Honestly, I did feel really weak from being sick.

Conditioning

6 Rounds

6 Burpee Box Jumps
6 Bar Muscle-ups
6 Burpee Box Jumps
1:1 Rest

Got this one from Sara Sigmundsdottir and the Buttery Bros

With how I was feeling walking around and benching, I wasn’t confident going in to this workout. I haven’t had my heart rate up since Wednesday and I wondered if my muscle-ups would hold for every round. I felt pretty good starting out, but could feel the effects of the burpee box jumps toward the end of the 6 bar muscle-ups when I was losing some hip pop. The first round took 1:30, with each section taking 30 seconds. I didn’t expect that pace to continue, but to my surprise I did it twice more! Then the fatigue started to set in on the burpees and I rested a little before jumping on the bar. My other rounds were 1:59, 1:57, and 1:42; I was able to hammer through the final burpees. Finished at 18:34 and was happy to do every set of bar muscle-ups unbroken. I’d like to try that one again when I’m feeling good. My back was feeling tight as the rounds went by.

Accessory

5 Sets

5 Evil Wheels
7/7 Half Kneeling Bottoms Up KB Press (35#)
5/5 Single Leg Lateral Box Step-ups (30″)

I definitely felt tired after the workout. I used an ab roller for the evil wheels instead of a barbell. Since it was fewer reps I went up to 35# (I’ve always used 26#) on the kettlebell presses and survived.

After relaxing through the day, I got outside for two hours of yard work in the evening. Wanted to do an Engine Builder workout, but I don’t think it would have been smart.

Double the Run

My abs are still sore and my back is a little tight. I’ve had a bit of a throat tickle and some hacking the last two days. Not sure where that came from. Out in the garage around 11am.

Year of the Engine – Polarized

39:00 Airdyne

** Endurance with 7s sprint @ 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36

I was able to keep a significantly better pace than I did for the 36 minute rides. Did 1,111 calories and 24.16 km. Later I went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

3×10 Reverse Hypers (160#)
400m Run
2 Rounds
- 10 PVC Passes
- 8 Goblet Squats (40# DB)
- 4 Inch Worms

Strength

Front Squat

5×45#
5×95
5×135
4x5x155

Single Leg KB Deadlift

5x 10/10 (53#)

My back is pretty tight from the lifting yesterday so I didn’t want to push it on the squats. The deadlifts were done in between squat sets.

Conditioning

15:00 AMRAP

21 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
400m Run
9 Sumo KB Deadlifts (88#)

I did every round of wall balls unbroken. I don’t know what I was thinking going out on the 400 meter course, but as soon as I hit the turn-around point I realized my mistake. Should have only been running 200s, but after one I already committed and stuck with it. The workout was programmed as 15 calories on the rower, but some of us ran since it was a packed house. I also modified from the 225# deadlifts. Finished 4 rounds plus 2 wall balls.

Looking back at my heart rate in WHOOP, it would get up during the wall balls and then it would drop on the run. I need to get better at pushing the runs in stuff like this with a higher heart rate because it was only around 130-135 which is more of what you’d want to see for endurance running.

Slowed Too Much

That Sunday night rowing workout took a lot out of me. Yesterday I walked 18 holes on the golf course. My mid and upper abs are really sore from the core work on Sunday.

Year of the Engine – Endurance

39:00 Run

Headed out for a run at 8am before it got too hot and humid. After noticing my heart rate was getting in to zone four too much on previous runs, I held back and wanted to keep more of an endurance pace for this. Went 3.48 miles, which is less than I did for the 36 minute run last week, but more on par with what the goal is supposed to be. I need to speed it up some though so there isn’t much time in zone one and it’s mostly zones 2-3. I need to set the heart rate zone alerts on my Garmin watch.

I felt kind tired the rest of the day after that run. Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

3 Sets
- 10 Reverse Hypers (160#)
4 Rounds
- 5 Russian KBS (44#)
- 10 PVC Passes
- 10 Jumping Jacks
Power Snatch
- 5×45#
- 5×75
- 3×95
- 3×115

Conditioning

E3M – 5 Rounds
- 10 cal Assault Bike
- 10 T2B
- 3 Power Snatch (135-145-155-160-165#)
E3M – 5 Rounds
- 10 cal Assault Bike
- 10 T2B
- 3 Power Cleans (185-195-205-215-225#)

Could I do the toes to bars unbroken? You bet! That was without a doubt my win of the day. 100 total T2B and I never broke up a set. Granted, it was a long (nearly 30 minute) workout, but I usually end up at singles with that much volume even doing sets of 4s or 5s. I did the snatches all touch-n-go and then went to singles for the power cleans. I put on my belt after the set of 185. I was holding about 80 RPM on the bike, which was taking around 25-35 seconds to finish. I had about 90 seconds of rest each round.

More Midline

2 Sets

2:00 Weighted Plank (45#)
2:00 Rest

Was programmed as 4 sets of 1:00 / 1:00, but I got a late start so jumped in with a couple of guys and wanted to catch up.

A Completely Different 12 Rounds

Yesterday I got up early to play in a golf outing. It was a long day and I didn’t feel like doing anything when I got home, so I made it a rest day. At the gym for open gym at 10am this morning.

No B.S. Bench Press

10×45#
8×95
4×135
4×165
2×195
2×215
2×235
2×255
3x2x260

I was hoping to push near my old 2RM of 275 as a test, but I didn’t have it today. The suggested range for the four working sets was 255-265, but I didn’t even feel good enough to try 265, because I was struggling with 260. To be honest, unracking 255 and doing the double felt sketchy as fuck for some reason. Maybe all of the dumbbell shoulder presses I did on Friday? WHOOP did have me at only 31% recovered this morning.

This completes one cycle of the program. Instead of testing a max next week I’m going straight to a second cycle, since I know I’m not capable of 300 yet. After today, I might be further away than I thought.

The last 12 months of bench pressing. I love the progression.

Conditioning

5-4-3-2-1 Muscle-ups
5-4-3-2-1 Bear Complex (135#)
10-8-6-4-2 Bar-facing Burpees

I’m not sure if my muscle-ups have ever felt better in a workout, especially that first set of five. All sets were unbroken on the rings. I dropped the bar after every bear complex, which was the worst part of this workout. Looks like I haven’t done the combo since late in 2017 and my barbell conditioning is definitely lacking with how little I’ve been lifting due to injuries over the last year or two. Tried to catch my breath a little bit on the burpees, but keep moving. My first round was a little under 3:00 and I finished in 9:43. Where I could make up time would be picking the barbell back up quicker.

Midline

2 Cycles

6 Rounds
- 3 Tuck-ups
- 3 V-ups
- 3 Straddle-ups
- 9 Side V-ups (alt sides each round)
Rest 2:00

Cruised through the first two rounds in a minute and then slowed considerably. My first cycle was done in 3:49 and my second cycle took 3:47, which is a big surprise. I think I was just a lot more consistent the second time through. With the rest it took 9:36 to get through everything.

After watching the Games, it was time to jump on the rower.

Year of the Engine – Interval

12 Rounds

2:00 Row
1:00 Rest

Could I hold a 1:46/500m pace? No! After getting a little over halfway through round one I made the call to cut back the pace. It’s amazing how much an extra second can change the feel on the rower. I got 562-563 meters every round.

It was hot and humid in the garage. This workout rolled past 200,000 meters since I bought the rower back in January.

Here is a neat comparison. The left chart is my heart rate from March 15th, doing 12x500m with 1:00 rests, where my average pace was 1:49.8. The right chart is today’s workout, which was a pace over three seconds faster and longer time duration since it was two minutes instead of a set 500 meters.

All in the Garage

My glutes were a little sore yesterday, but I was expecting much worse. Walked 18 holes on the course. Out in the garage at noon today.

Year of the Engine – Polarized

36:00 Airdyne
** Endurance with 7s sprint @ 8, 16, 24, 32

Went 1,008 cals and 21.21km, which is slightly worse than Tuesday. I attribute it to watching the CrossFit Games today and not paying as much attention to my pace during the first half of the ride.

Conditioning

34-in-box
10 Rounds

5 Strict Fat Bar C2B Pull-ups (singles)
10 Squat Jumps
5/5 Single Arm DB Shoulder Presses (35#)
5/5 Single Leg Lateral Step-ups (34″)

Rested maybe twenty minutes or so and then hit this little number. It took a few rounds to find a rhythm, especially on those high step-ups. Pumping my arms as I pushed up helped a ton. Great little session getting in a lot of accessory work with an elevated heart rate. Finished in 22:06.

All Legs and Buns

Wasn’t sure how my back would feel after yesterday, since lifts from the hang are tougher on it. Feeling good today though. Out in the garage during lunch.

Year of the Engine – Interval

10 Rounds

1:15 Row
1:15 Rest

Set a goal of 1:38/500m, thinking it might be a little aggressive. It was good though; not easy, but enough of a challenge that I had to push the last half of the workout to stay on pace. Got exactly 383 meters every round.

Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

400m Run
2 Rounds
- 10 Good Mornings (45#)
- 10 Jumping Jacks
- 10 Russian KBS (44#)
Deadlift
- 10×45#
- 5×95
- 5×135

Strength

E4M – 4 Sets

25 cal Echo Bike
5 Deadlifts (155-205-205-235#)

After doing the first bike in about a minute I realized there was no reason to go so hard with what was coming up.

Conditioning

EMOM – 5 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
100 Front Rack Lunges (95#)

I did 15-12-11-12-10-10-10-12-8. Early on I got messed up thinking the clock was counting down, so I think I dropped the bar for a quick rest in the first three rounds and definitely should not have. I think after 2 rounds I made a goal to get to 50 through 4 rounds and then finish out with sets of 10s. With only one round to go, I pushed it a little for that set of 12 so I’d had fewer to finish. Took me 8:30 and I was getting ass cramps shortly after.

Too Late

Yesterday I woke up with sore shoulders and tight achilles. Walked 18 holes on the golf course. Today my old body feels good (knock on wood). Out in the garage during lunch.

Year of the Engine – Polarized

36:00 Airdyne

**Endurance with 7s sprint @ 8, 16, 24, 32

I did 1,012 cals and 21.25km. My endurance pace is feeling good on the bike lately. Maybe being able to run again is helping. This summer humidity is no fucking joke though.

Went to the gym at 4pm.

Warm-up

400m Run
Burgener Warm-up (45#)
Hang Power Snatch
- 5×75#
- 5×95#

Weightlifting

3:00 EMOM
- 3 Hang Power Snatch (115#)
3:00 EMOM
- 2 Hang Power Snatch (135#)
5:00 EMOM
- 1 Hang Power Snatch (145-155-165-175-185#)

Missed first attempt at 185, so I let Weston go, and then I got under it for an ugly rep. Haven’t done anything heavy like that in a long time. Especially with hang reps too.

Conditioning

15:00 AMRAP

15 cal Row
5 Hang Power Cleans (increasing: 135-155-165-175-185-195…)
12 Toes to Bars

My goals were to keep a 1,200 cal/hr pace on the rower and go 2×6 T2B. After having no issue keeping pace on the rower for a few rounds I finally picked up the pace to over 1,300. I had my belt ready and started using it after 155 I think. Toes to bars felt good and I probably should have cut back on the rest. I wasted a bunch of time increasing to my last weight before going over to the rower. I got on with about a minute on the clock, pushed hard through the 15 cals, tried to quickly put the belt back on as I jogged over to my bar in the other room, picked the bar up, and was dipping down as time ran out. I did the rep with 195# but it obviously didn’t count. So I got through 5 rounds plus the row.